Survivors
by DuAnn Cowart
Summary: Swift and Flint consider loss and moving on


All characters belong to Wildstorm/D.C. and are used 

without permission. I am claiming no ownership of any 

property contained herein. All standard disclaimers apply.   
  


Unlike my other recent efforts, this is set in the 'real' 

Authority timeline, immediately before/during the events of 

The Authority #13.   
  


Feedback is one of the primary benefits of indulging in 

writing fanfiction. As such, comments of all sorts (sans 

flames) are eagerly sought and may be sent to 

ibelieve@rocketmail.com   
  
  
  


Survivors   
  
  
  


Each party, just like each person, has it's own 

personality. There is a very distinct psychology to human 

gatherings. Dynamics of a party include standard variables 

of location, occasion, persons attending, and the thousand 

other less identifiable factors which add up to create the 

intangible essence which is the soul of the party. Just 

like people, no two parties are alike. They can be good or 

bad, fun or stilted, passionate or dreary, and all levels 

in between.   
  


There are Eleanor Roosevelt gatherings- brilliant and kind 

and ultimately human, but not likely to result in 

undergarments strewn on the floor.   
  


There are Martha Stewart formal occasions, with perfect 

ettiquette, lovely decorations, and everything just so. 

Again, these are very rarely threats to chastity.   
  


And of course, there are Hugh Hefner Bacchanalian orgies 

during which one would be well advised to watch the floor 

lest one step in something unsavory. Usually involving vast 

quantities of alcohol and phernomes, this sort of revelry 

is often coupled with subsequently magnificient hangovers 

and appropriately hazy recollections.   
  


This Thursday night on the Carrier definitely fit into the 

latter category. In keeping with the team's new proactive 

approach to the world they lived in, the Authority's 

otherworldly home had become a much sought after party 

spot. Here superhumans and celebrities mingled together in 

a heady mix of superficiality and sensationalism. Porn 

stars frolicked with cyborgs, aliens cavorted with royalty, 

and a good time was had by all.   
  


In the midst of all this revelry, Victoria Ojuku, the woman 

once known as Flint, sat alone at a corner table in one of 

the Carrier's makeshift bars and watched it all. Raising 

her glass to her lips, she took another sip of the gin and 

tonic she'd been nursing all night and watched the ebb and 

flow of brightly colored people as the party surged around 

her.   
  


She was quiet, at the party but not really a part of it. 

Indeed, she felt like she'd not been a true part of 

anything for a very, very long time- for a little over a 

year now, actually.   
  


She stared morosely into her drink, swirling the clear 

liquid around and around the glass. 'Why the hell did I 

agree to come tonight?' she asked herself, not for the 

first time that night. The answer was easy. 'Because 

Jackson and Christine asked me to. And whatever else they 

might be, they're still first-class manipulators.'   
  


Although Victoria no longer offically worked with any SPB 

agency she still served as a freelance operative, for after 

all she'd seen and done there was no way to go back to a 

'normal' life. It hadn't been easy- apart from the 

emotional trauma of having the people who were in essence 

her family murdered before her very eyes, she'd had to 

readjust to living planetside again without the amenities 

of the space station that had been her home for so many 

years. Kenya hadn't been home to her in years, so she'd had 

to start all over.   
  


Financial realities demanded that she keep her U.N. 

retainer, which carried with it the moral responsibility to 

be of use in any way she could-- and that included 

coordinating her solo efforts with Jackson and Christine's 

fledgling SPB intelligence office. Over the last year she'd 

worked quite closely with the only other survivors of 

Stormwatch.   
  


Well- the other *official* survivors of Stormwatch. She 

hadn't spoken with any members of Stormwatch Black since 

declining Jenny Sparks' offer of membership in the 

Authority a year ago.   
  


Since then, the team had attained almost universal 

celebrity as members of The Authority. Victoria, along with 

the rest of the world, had watched on her television as the 

Authority staved off global threats, protecting the people 

of the Earth from forces beyond their ken and control. She, 

like the rest of the world, had been horrified to learn of 

Sparks' death. The only difference was that she'd known 

Jenny personally, as a teammate if not as a friend.   
  


The entire world had wept when Jenny Sparks died.   
  


Who had cried for Stormwatch?   
  


Victoria swallowed her bitterness, chasing it with gin as 

she downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. 'I knew this 

was a bad idea,' she thought angrily, rising from her seat. 

'I thought I'd dealt with all these feelings, but being 

here on a space station with so many costumes- I should 

have expected this.'   
  


She slammed her drink down, and the resounding impact 

shattered the empty glass in her hand. She stared dully at 

the broken pieces, then laughed humorlessly before turning 

to walk away into the brightly colored crowd.   
  


**********   
  


Across the room a slender, attractive Asian woman walked 

towards the the packed bar, arm in arm with a much younger 

man. She leaned into him and whispered loudly to be heard 

over the pounding music, "Eddie, be a dear and get me a 

drink, will you? That's a good boy," she purred.   
  


The dark haired young man stepped back, a slightly confused 

look on his squarely handsome face. "Um. . .ok. What do you 

want?"   
  


Shen Li-Men, Swift of the Authority, tilted her head 

forward, and uneven dark bangs fell mysteriously over her 

eyes. "Surprise me," she ran a hand down his tattoed chest, 

a world of promise in her eyes. "And I might just surprise 

you later."   
  


Hardly able to believe his ears, Edward Chang nodded 

eagerly and was gone, stumbling over his feet like a puppy.   
  
  
  


Shen watched him go, admiring the way young muscles filled 

out leather pants. 'Well, Mrs. Robinson,' she chuckled at 

herself. 'Why don't you find a cozy corner table for two?' 

With that happy thought in mind, she turned to maneuver 

through the crowd, nodding and smiling to various 

acquaintances as she passed.   
  


She was so caught up in doing so that she walked straight 

into someone's back. "I'm sorry," she automatically 

apologized politely, stepping back to give the other person 

room to turn around. "I wasn't watching where I was 

going--" She looked up, and drew in a sharp breath.   
  


"VICTORIA?!?"   
  


The dark woman blinked, then looked down to see what 

nuisance had stepped on her heels and was now calling her 

name. Dark eyes opened wide in surprise.   
  


"SHEN?"   
  


Shen's face lit up, and she rose on her tiptoes to 

impulsively embrace the taller woman. Victoria surprised 

herself by returning the hug.   
  


"Shen, it's great to see you," she greeted her old teammate 

with a small smile.   
  


Shen stepped back, obviously delighted. "You too, Vicky! 

It's been so long- I haven't seen you since-"   
  


There was a long, awkward pause. "Before Stormwatch 

dissolved," Victoria crossed her arms over her chest 

protectively, a harsh note creeping into her lilting voice.   
  
  
  


A lesser woman would have stammered then, but Shen Li-Men 

only nodded respectfully. "I know. I'm very sorry, Vicky."   
  


"Me too," Victoria murmured softly, powerful hands 

clenching into tight fists. Consciously smoothing out her 

expression, she changed the subject. "But that's neither 

here nor there. How are you these days?"   
  


Almond eyes darted to the side, searching for her . . . 

date. She located him standing in the back of one of the 

longest lines to the crowded bar, chatting in an animated 

manner with another tall blond boy about his age. Turning 

to Victoria, she smiled. "I have a feeling I'm going to be 

here a while. Would you care to wait with me, Flint?"   
  


"Victoria," she corrected hastily, voice strangely flat. 

"Not Flint. I'm just Victoria now, Shen."   
  


Shen blinked, but nodded slowly. "All right, then, 

Victoria. Care to join me?"   
  


Victoria paused for a minute, glancing at the exit door, 

then back at her old friend. She drew in a breath and 

smiled a bit shakily. "Sounds good."   
  


The two women made their way to the back of the room and 

seated themselves at the table Victoria had just left. Shen 

cast an odd glance at the pile of broken glass on the metal 

table but said nothing.   
  


Victoria spoke first. "You didn't answer my question."   
  


"What question?" Shen asked pleasantly, settling into her 

chair, angling it so she could see the bar.   
  


"How you're doing. I've been keeping up with you all 

through Jackson and Christine, and through the news, of 

course, but I'd like to hear it from you. How's active duty 

treating you these days?" Victoria managed a smile, though 

Shen could tell its cost was dear.   
  


"Better than I ever thought it could be," Shen breathed, 

and Victoria saw a glint of genuine delight in her eyes. 

"It's so wonderful to be able to do what we want, when we 

want to- to and not have to erase our trail or worry about 

whether we'll get sufficient resources or support to do the 

job properly- it's grand."   
  


"I guess it would be nice to come out of covert ops," 

Victoria admitted. "I remember how much Jenny hated all the 

secrecy of what you were forced to do." She winced at her 

own insensitivity at mentioning the late Sparks, barely 

dead a month.   
  


To her surprise, the other woman didn't flinch, only nodded 

softly. "She did. She was never happier than when we left 

that role and began to operate in the open as the 

Authority. She would love what we're doing now."   
  


"Shen- I'm sorry about Jenny," Victoria managed. "I truly 

am. How she died-"   
  


"Was how she was meant to die," Shen interrupted, but this 

time Victoria heard Shen's smooth voice crack ever so 

slightly. "She knew that. It was her time, Victoria, and 

she left making this world a better place. It was as it was 

meant to be."   
  


"How lovely for her," Victoria snapped, faces of those who 

weren't so fortunate flickering through her memory. She 

made a face. "In any case, please let me express how truly 

sorry I am for her loss."   
  


"Thank you," Shen murmured quietly, eyeing the other woman 

speculatively. "I thought we might have seen you at the 

funeral."   
  


"I could have said the same," Victoria said coldly, staring 

at the other woman with eyes as hard as her namesake. 

Accusatory words came bubbling out from a fissure deep 

inside she thought long since healed. "You weren't at the 

Memorial Service." She hadn't needed to specify which. 

"None of Stormwatch Black was."   
  


Stricken, Shen tried to meet her eyes but the naked anger 

in them made her look away. "I'm sorry," she tried to 

explain, memories taking her back over a year. "You have no 

idea how very sorry I am. I *would* have been there, I 

swear it, but IO agents were at Malcolm's hospital bed- 

someone had to be there to protect him."   
  


"I suppose nobody else could have done the job, eh?" Shen's 

remarks had tapped a vein of rage that Victoria didn't know 

still existed, and she lashed ou angrily "Anybody could 

have guarded Malcolm, but-" She paused, picking her way 

through the words as carefully and furiously as a cat with 

wet paws. "But they were Stormwatch. They were your 

*family*, Shen, and you weren't there."   
  


The smaller woman stiffened at the harsh accusation. "What 

could I have done?" She demanded, body taut as a spring. 

"They were not the first family I have lost, Victoria. What 

would you have had me do? Sit weeping while *another* 

teammate was in danger? Stormwatch was about saving lives. 

I *had* to protect Malcolm!"   
  


"Fine," Victoria growled savagely, not yet ready to concede 

her fury. "Fine for you. But what about Jenny? Or Jack? 

What about them? Did my team mean so little to them, too, 

that they couldn't be bothered to come to their fucking 

*memorial* service either?"   
  


"They-" Shen's words were cut off by a contemptous snort.   
  


"Save it," Victoria muttered, swallowing the huge lump in 

her throat. "I'm sure they had their reasons, too, but none 

of that changes the fact that I sat alone as we told them 

goodbye."   
  


There was a long, awkward moment of silence.   
  


"I *am* sorry, Vicky," Shen studied her clasped hands, eyes 

glistening in the dim light of the bar. "I know it may seem 

otherwise to you, but their sacrifice is not forgotten. I 

miss them too, more than you know. I just wish-" She broke 

off, distraught.   
  


Victoria raised a hand to her downturned face, rubbing her 

temples. After a long moment, she raised her head. "You 

wish what?"   
  


Swallowing her weakness, Shen met her old teammate's gaze 

with surprising forthrightness. "I wish you'd accepted 

Jenny's offer to join us."   
  


Her companion smiled tightly. "I work alone now, Shen. 

Mostly simple extractions, hostage situations- that sort of 

thing. Things not big enough to be worth the Authority's 

time, but things that need doing anyway."   
  


Almond eyes flashed in anger, but Shen held back a sharp 

retort. Victoria sighed loudly. "Listen, I didn't mean that 

like it sounded."   
  


"I know," Shen conceded softly, defensiveness seeping out 

of her tone. "You have every right to be pissed, Victoria."   
  
  
  


"Damn right I do." Dark lips twisted in the other woman's 

characteristically dry smile, then faded as Victoria lapsed 

into the melancholy that had been her constant companion 

over the last year. She sighed. "You must think I'm a 

basket case."   
  


"No, I don't," Shen replied quickly, but Victoria heard the 

undertone of uncertainty in her voice.   
  


She pushed the shards of broken glass into the center of 

the table, then picked up the largest piece, idly turning 

it over in her fingers. "Yeah, you do, but you're wrong. I 

might be a mess tonight, but I don't want you to think I'm 

like this all the time. The past year has been difficult, 

but I've made it through- I've survived. I'm just a little 

on edge tonight." Her voice was still cool and distant, and 

very, very proud.   
  


Shen looked away, reminding herself that the razor sharp 

edges of simple glass wouldn't pierce her old teammate's 

invulnerable skin. "You don't have to justify yourself to 

me, Victoria." She pitched her words to be low, soft and 

soothing, but the other woman continued as if she hadn't 

heard.   
  


"Tonight, all this," she waved her hands at the technicolor 

surrounding them, "Is just bringing it all back. I mean, we 

were *Stormwatch*," Victoria hit the table with the heel of 

her hand, and shards of glass rose slightly with the 

impact. "We fought terrorists and mutagens and conspiracies 

and the entire bloody world. We walked into the jaws of 

death on a daily basis. I always knew one day someone 

wouldn't make it back. I just never thought-"   
  


Shen swallowed tightly, finishing her sentence. "That you 

would be the only one left behind."   
  


"Yeah," Victoria murmured bleakly. "Yeah." She leaned 

forward, elbows on the table. She buried her face in her 

hands. "Damn, I just miss them so much."   
  


Her eyes focused on the faceless crowd, but her vision 

turned inward. She'd been alone for a year. No teammates, 

no family, no friends- she'd survived, and done just fine, 

a voice deep inside whispered defiantly. She'd carved out a 

life for herself, and she'd been damn good at it. She'd 

done the things that had to be done, things that no one 

else could have done. Even so, she'd been so alone. To go 

from part of a team to a free agent had been bad enough, 

but to know that everyone else she loved was dead while she 

had lived- at their expense- had been unbearable.   
  


Shen read her old friend's expression, then drew in a deep 

breath. She reached out a hand to rest lightly taloned 

fingers on Victoria's muscled forearm. The dark woman drew 

back sharply, then looked up at her in surprise.   
  


"They wouldn't want you to hurt like this, Victoria," Shen 

ventured softly, poised on the edge of her chair to dart 

away if the other woman reacted badly to her guess. "What 

you're doing to yourself- they wouldn't want this. You know 

that."   
  


Victoria's head shot up, and her mouth opened to shoot back 

a sharp retort. To her great surprise she found she had 

nothing to say. "It doesn't matter," she whispered 

hoarsely. "We went through too much together to have them 

go like that. I. . .I should have done something, Shen."   
  


Shen leaned forward. "What, Vicky?" She shook her head 

emphatically, short dark hair falling over her eyes. "What 

could you have done? I read Jackson's report. Skywatch was 

breached and was headed towards Earth infected with aliens! 

You stopped them. Your team saved the world. What more 

could you have done?"   
  


Victoria's shoulders stiffened, and her nostrils flared in 

anger. "I've asked myself that a thousand times," She 

choked, expression anguished. "Maybe if Nick and I hadn't 

been out drinking the night before my reaction time would 

have been better! Maybe I should have gone for that monster 

that grabbed Lauren first instead of blocking for Toshiro! 

I don't know what, but I should have done *something*!"   
  


Shen listened to the self-loathing and blame in Victoria's 

voice, heard the desperation in her words. The winged woman 

thought for a long moment, weighing her options, then made 

a decision. She intentionally pasted a derisive expression 

on her face, snorting derisively, making her voice as 

mocking as possible.   
  


"Oh, so that was it," Shen taunted mercilessly, hating the 

pain her calculated words were causing, knowing they had to 

be said. "You should have done *something*, is that it? 

What? What could you have done, *Flint*? Died with them?"   
  


"YES!" Victoria yelled, slamming tightly clenched fists on 

the metal table, shaking the sturdy surface. The loud echo 

was soon absorbed the dull roar of the crowd.   
  


"And what bloody good would that have done?" Shen demanded, 

uncowed by the outburst. "Victoria, don't you see that 

you're not honoring them by hiding yourself away from the 

world like this? You're not celebrating their memory- hell, 

you're not even grieving them properly!"   
  


"How dare you tell me about my grief," Victoria growled, 

cultured voice lowering dangerously. "You barely even saw 

them after the teams split. How *dare* you presume to know 

how I felt- how I feel?"   
  


"I lost a family too, Victoria," Shen bristled. "Not just 

Stormwatch, but my very blood and bones. I've seen my 

homeland raped by invaders, my entire culture devoured by 

outsiders. Don't tell me I don't know what loss feels 

like."   
  


Victoria's eyes narrowed. "Kenya wasn't a playland, 

either," she muttered, then caught herself. "You know very 

well that's not what I meant."   
  


Shen shook her head, eyes glistening in the dimness of the 

bar. "I know damn well how you feel, Victoria. Stormwatch 

died so that Earth could live. By closing yourself away 

from the world and everyone that cares about you, you're 

throwing away the gift they gave you. You're dishonoring 

their memory, and they deserve better than that."   
  


Victoria pressed the balls of her hands against closed 

eyes. "Shen, I-"   
  


"You what?" Shen demanded forcefully, rising from her seat. 

"You hurt? You should! You loved them, and now they're 

gone! I hurt too, Victoria. Jackson, Christine, even Jenny 

and Jack, no matter what you might think- we all hurt. We 

*all* miss them."   
  


Dark eyes locked, and Shen leaned down so they were of a 

height. "You, though- you're their legacy. Don't you think 

they'd want better for you than this half-life you're 

living?"   
  


Victoria swallowed, unable to look away from the truth in 

the other woman's piercing avian gaze. Realization dawned, 

and she had to bite her lip to hold back the tears. 

Her friends had died so she could live, and whatever she'd 

been doing for the last year, it hadn't been living. She 

fought back tears. They wouldn't have wanted her to isolate 

herself from the world or to hold such resentment in her 

heart. Her friends would not have wanted her to punish 

herself for surviving.   
  


A year was a long time to carry such pain. 'If it were me 

gone, and Lauren still alive- I'd kick her ass if she acted 

this way.' She smiled softly at the thought, and felt a 

hard tight knot in her chest loosen ever so slightly.   
  


The noise of the party around them faded to an indistinct 

background roar and the world narrowed to that single 

table. Accusations and anger forgotten, Shen reached across 

the table to clasp the other woman's dusky hand. Victoria 

stiffened, then squeezed Shen's hand gratefully.   
  


"They were my family," Victoria murmured softly. "Lauren, 

Nikolas, Toshiro- even Nigel, dammit," she laughed through 

her tears. "Stormwatch went through so many changes, but 

the five of us held fast until the end."   
  


She pulled her hand away, clasping it in her lap. Words 

came pouring out in a cathartic rush. "Maybe that's why 

this is so hard for me. Here, on your Carrier- The 

Authority is a team. It reminds me of what we used to be 

like. And I see you on the news every night- every single 

night, Shen- and I can't help but think that the name 

'Stormwatch' is nothing but a rapidly fading memory, now."   
  


"Wrong," Shen said firmly, shaking her head. "You couldn't 

*be* more wrong, Vicky. Look around you. I meant what I 

said. Everyone on this ship- hell, everyone on earth, and 

*especially* The Authority- owes our lives to Stormwatch in 

one way or another. We haven't forgotten at all- in fact, 

there's even several old members here at this party 

tonight."   
  


Victoria wiped her eyes and sat up straighter, looking 

around the crowd slowly, searching for familiar faces. 

"Here? Tonight? Who?"   
  


Shen grinned slyly, recognizing that she'd done as much to 

heal her friend as she could possibly do in one night. 

"Maybe if you weren't hiding out here in the corner you'd 

know," she teased, burying her message in a light, 

conversational tone.   
  


Victoria nodded, quietly accepting the gentle rebuke. 

Bunched shoulders relaxed somewhat, and something very near 

a smile graced her elegant features. "I have ways of making 

you talk, Shen. I still remember a few old Spetznaz tricks 

Nick taught me-"   
  


Swift laughed, a welcome reprieve from the lingering 

tension between them. "Oh, fine, you're no fun at all. Karl 

and Maya are here. Union's here." Shen inclined her head 

with a smile. "Several others, I'm sure. I think even 

Blademaster made it to this one."   
  


"Blademaster?" Victoria nearly goggled at the thought of 

seeing their old teacher again. "Here? Are you serious?"   
  


"Quite," Shen assured her. "Perhaps you'd like me to ask 

him to lead us in a few rounds-"   
  


"Shut your mouth," Victoria cut her off, only half joking. 

"I *still* have nightmares about those early days. Nigel 

always bitched about Scythe being rough, but Blademaster? 

Now *he* was one tough training officer-"   
  


Shen shuddered dramatically. "I remember. Quite an 

experience, wasn't it?" She raised a speculative eyebrow. 

"Of course, your first costume was so distracting that it's 

a wonder the poor boys got anything done, wasn't it?" She 

glanced sideways at her companion, then burst into laughter 

at the expression on Victoria's face.   
  


Victoria coughed, dusky cheeks flushing with color. "Hey, I 

thought we agreed not to bring that up anymore, didn't we?" 

She smiled sweetly and went on the offensive. "Do you still 

have any of that face paint around here, Shen? What *was* 

that stuff, anyway, Stripey? Lipstick?"   
  


Shen hooted in laughter, and Victoria joined her, the two 

grasping their sides and giggling like schoolgirls. 

Hilarity combined with pent up emotions to form a heady 

mixture of cathartic release. When they were- finally- 

done, Shen asked quietly, "Victoria, what made you finally 

come visit us? You've had an open invitation- what made you 

come tonight?"   
  


Still grinning, Victoria arched a wry eyebrow. "In a 

nutshell? Jackson and Christine. They wouldn't get off my 

damn back and I thought this was the easiest way to get 

them to shut up about it already."   
  


"A wise decision. Where are they, by the way?" Shen asked 

curiously, looking around the crowded room. "I saw them 

earlier, but in this crowd-"   
  


"Beats me," Victoria shrugged, still smiling. She felt 

curiously light inside, as if the argument with Shen and 

resulting laughter had purged her of some of the darkness 

that'd followed her like a shroud. Endorphins, some part of 

her noted absently. Endorphins. Whatever it was, she wanted 

more. "They stayed with me for a while, but you know 

Jackson-"   
  


Shen rolled her eyes. "Ah, the life of the party. He can't 

resist the lure."   
  


Victoria looked askance. "Are we talking about the same 

Jackson King?"   
  


"Tall, dark, handsome, unfortunately quite taken? Yes, the 

very one," Shen smiled wickedly. "Although if Christine 

ever tires of him. . ." She trailed off, suggestive 

expression completing the sentence for her.   
  


"Damn, you sound just like Lauren," Victoria murmured with 

a smile. It felt good- damn good- to speak of her friend to 

someone who would share her memories. "She said almost the 

exact same thing to me one time."   
  


Shen grinned, responding to the gesture with a memory of 

her own. "As I recall, she said something like that about 

all our male teammates at one time or another."   
  


Victoria laughed aloud, a bit surprised at how good it felt 

to reminisce over so simple a thing as an old, dear friend. 

"So she did. She was teasing, though- she knew the one she 

wanted, and she got him."   
  


Shen blinked, then her face slowly split in a disbelieving 

smile. "Jackson mentioned something about that, but I 

couldn't quite bring myself to believe him. Is it true? Did 

she and Nigel-"   
  


Victoria nodded solemnly, but her eyes were dancing. "Like 

rabbits." She made a wry face. "Believe me, Lauren told me 

*all* about it, and from what Nick told me Nigel did the 

same thing with he and Toshiro. Way more information than 

we ever needed to know." She shook her head, but the smile 

was still there.   
  


Shen made a smug face. "Hah! I *knew* it! I asked her about 

it once, but she brushed me off. 'Harmless flirting', my 

ass. . . How did the rest of you handle it?"   
  


"What could we do?" Victoria raised her hands helplessly, 

exulting in the unaccustomed feel of reminsicing over 

pleasant memories. "They were so damn happy, and 

surprisingly enough they were great together. I worried 

about whether he was right for her, but even though Nigel 

was so . . . outgoing. . ."   
  


"That's one way to put it," Shen interrupted, bemused by 

the memory of the outrageous Irishman.   
  


Victoria's lips quirked in a grin. "That it was easy to 

forget how damn smart he was. I don't think she could have 

found another man who could challenge her like he did. And 

he was happier than I'd ever seen him. He was actually 

*sweet* with her- Nigel, sweet, if you can believe that!"   
  


Her smile faded abruptly. "I just wish they could have had 

more time together." Implicit in the words was a longing 

for more time for them all.   
  


Shen recognized the darkness looming and quickly moved to 

block it. "Then they were fortunate to find each other, 

even if only for a little while. You- we all- were 

fortunate to have such friends, even for a while."   
  


She caught Shen's gaze and nodded. "Yes," she finally 

murmured, understanding and doing her best to accept the 

truth behind the kindness. "Yes, we were."   
  


The slight woman extended a hand. "Then I have a 

proposition for you. I suggest that you and I round up 

every member of Stormwatch we can find and drink a toast in 

their honor."   
  


Victoria paused, and then did something she could not have 

considered even an hour earlier. She smiled. "I think," she 

spoke slowly, carefully, feeling the burden on her heart 

lessen with each word, "I think I'd like that very much."   
  


Shen caught her eyes and smiled, and together the twowomen 

slowly threading through the crowd until they reached a 

relatively empty space at the bar. Nearby, two handsome men 

sat side by side on the barstools, embodiments of dark and 

light with eyes only for each other.   
  


Victoria saw them and, motioning discreetly, bent down to 

whisper in Shen's ear. "I've been reading the papers. So 

they're Out now, eh?"   
  


Shen returned the whisper with a sly smile. "Were they ever 

in?"   
  


Victoria laughed. "Good for them. I'm glad, but I shudder 

to think what response Nigel- or Nick, for that matter- 

would have made to that remark."   
  


Shen stifled a laugh, then turned to greet her teammates, 

Victoria close behind. "Apollo, Midnighter- do you remember 

.. . . " She glanced at the other woman, an unspoken 

question in her eyes.   
  


Victoria stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, she 

extended her hand. "Flint," she identified herself with a 

small but steady smile. "Late of Stormwatch. Nice to see 

you two again."   
  


The dark man just grunted in acknowledgement, but the blond 

rose from his stool, a charming smile on his handsome face. 

He took her hand, cupping it warmly in both his huge palms. 

He smelled slightly of alcohol.   
  


"Flint! Of course we remember you! Care to join us in a 

drink?"   
  


Victoria glanced over her shoulder at the empty table, then 

back at the warmth and companionship before her here. Faces 

of old friends scrolled once more through her memories, but 

this time she felt comfort, not condemnation. They had died 

so she could live, and she wouldn't belittle their 

sacrifice by refusing to live her life to its fullest.   
  


They deserved a better legacy than that.   
  


Turning to Apollo, she nodded. "Yes, I think I will," she 

murmured, meeting Shen's approving gaze. "But just a quick 

one." Craning her neck to get a better view of the main 

room, she saw a flash of pale green skin beside pale blond 

hair, and she grinned, spotting Karl and Maya Royko. "I've 

got to meet some old friends for a toast."   
  


Shen smiled broadly and motioned to the bartender for 

assistance. The Midnighter grunted, Apollo grinned, and 

Victoria took the drink that was offered her.   
  
  
  


And the party raged on around them.   
  
  
  


Fin.   
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
